Day 8: March 24th, 6am
Bible study is apparently cancelled without my knowledge for the 2nd day in a row. Fine by me because I feel like I got hit by a bus today.
9:30am
Holy crap my spine feels like it could disintegrate. My voice is non-exisistent. This is definitely not the place I wanted to die, but this week’s events are slowly proving it might be.
1pm
Every time I wake up I feel worse. It’s not supposed to happen like that!! My thoughts have run from having strep throat to mono to a flare up of malaria to bacterial meningitis. We’ll take a poll.
2pm
I’ve been talking to the Lord all day, and I finally prayed for myself, and I asked Him if He’d heal me today. He said, “No.” Hahahahaha. I love it when He tells me no. #humbled
7pm
Megan stayed back from evening church to make sure I don’t die. Dude. She makes a wicked homemade chicken vegetable soup. And she made tacos for everyone else! And filtered 5 gallons of water for us. Talk about a servant heart.
Day 9: March 25th, 8am
There are multiple men taking over our house with loud power tools and metal bars at the moment. Good thing I woke up an hour ago already. I’m sure my teammates will have their own recollection of this moment when they get kicked out of their room In 5 minutes. Hahahahahahaha
10am
These people and their oils. They’ve ruined me! I’m a believer! I’m actually asking them to put it in my drinks now. Ugh.
9pm
Bri literally just used her arms to thrust herself out of her chair to sprint home because she wasn’t sure she could get up nicely without pooping herself. I followed her, holding myself the whole way home because I was going to pee my own pants laughing as she screamed and flailed her arms right up to the front door of the house. A day here feels like a year with all the happenings of life.
Day 10, March 26th, 4pm
Bri and I have the best adventures together. We wanted to get into town to get burgers and hopefully ice cream, but our friends didn’t have the number for taxis. This place is desolate, so apart from needing a taxi to drive 15 minutes to get us and take us to town, we also have to find an actual human around here who could give us a number to call. We tried google, but when that didn’t work, we thought about hitch-hiking. We shot it down real quick, but we actually did stop a car flying by just to ask if they could give us a number for a taxi. They just called one for us right there! People are so kind.
6pm
We waited on a curb for an hour for the only restaurant in town to open. When you want American food, you’ll do almost anything.
Day 11, March 27th, 10am
We chose to begin working at 7am this morning so we didn’t have to work under the sweltering heat of the afternoon sun here. Over halfway done and the bossman comes over to tell us, “You’re working on Plan A. We’re gonna switch to Plan B today.” I could feel the heat radiating from the 3 other girls around me hahahahahahahaha
12pm
We moved a pile of rocks and undug the tallest bamboo post in the world. Poptarts for lunch today.
6pm
I do my best processing and reflecting with the Lord when I’m moving. I think that’s why I love traveling so much, because my body is moving forward or being placed somewhere new, but my head is still and has no choice but to reflect back. The Lord speaks to me clearly through sunsets as well, and they are glory – roaring here. So, I went on a run to hear from the Lord in the sunset, and I happened to see blue layered mountains in the distance. Naturally, I stopped to scream, “GOD, I DON’T UNDERSTAND, BUT I TRUST YOU ANYWAY.”
7pm
I hate everything. My face was feeling the rare, cool breeze here and I was looking up at the fading sunset. My feet, however, stumbled over this large, awkward rock in the road.
8pm
It took me 30 minutes to gimp half a mile back home. I have a black and purple softball bouncing around the side of my ankle and I’m walking like I just learned how to 2 days ago.
Day 12, March 28th, 7am
IT’S THE BEST DAY OF THE YEAR! OPENING DAY OF BASEBALL!
11am
I miss my friends, family, and America often, but it’s not usual for me to actually wish I were there with them. Today, I do wish I was back there. Sometimes, I want to not livestream a sporting event illegally, and sometimes I just want my mom. On Thursdays, Tiff, Sabo, and I would have cereal night. It’s one of those days.
10pm
WE HAD A CEREAL NIGHT!!!
Day 13, March 29th, 8am
Oh my gosh I hate packing. The madness of this lifestyle is the amount of times I’ve looked at everything I currently own and stuffed it into 2 small backpacks. I can’t even get one whole one done and I want to rip my hair out.
9am
Sadly, I’m leaving the team and this ministry today. I do, however, get to be reunited with my co-leaders, Carl and Manda! We’re going to Panama City to another team. Manda just called me and said they’re an hour away; I’m still not done packing and I have to travel 30 minutes to even get to the bus station.
10am
Made it in the knick of time! I asked the restaurant owner next to our house to call a taxi for me, and he said, “sure.” 15 minutes later he points to a stranger with a beat up jeep and says, “Your taxi’s ready.” I trusted him, but I also threw up a prayer just in case.
12pm
Update on the ankle: it looks like I dropped a cinder block on it, equally looks like I contracted elephantitis, and feels like someone could saw it off and there’d be less pain. This is where I should ask for prayers, I suppose.
*all names and stories were OK’d in the publishing of these entries
